And this is just a 615 pixel wide screenshot, and it looks that good. To see the high-resolution image, click here and then click the photo again to enlarge.

In the interest of full disclosure, I should tell you that a dear friend of mine took this photo. I should also tell you that I didn’t know that when I first saw the photo and was wowed by how terrific it is. The colors, the perspective, even the subtle fish eye effect…I’m no photography expert, not by a long shot, but I do know a great one when I see it; and this is a great one.

To purchase the high-res image of the photo for $5 (which I just did), or to purchase 10 x 15, 12 x 18, or 24 x 36 inch prints, click here.

Here is the backstory on the photo, from her website:

It was a rainy night in Indianapolis on the eve of the kick-off to Super Bowl XLVI Festivities in Indianapolis … maybe not a perfect night to be out wondering around the chilly streets of downtown, but it WAS a perfect night to take photos! Even at 10p the night before, a small crowd had already started to gather around the huge installation of XLVI on Monument Circle … each Indianapolis native hoping to catch a glimpse of the numbers before the streets grew so crowded that they would have to fight their way to snap an image of the circle. It was an exciting night to be Hoosier, watching the lights come on and reflect across a stormy street that lay waiting in anticipation of the enormous crowds that it was about to receive!

I’m sure that a number of great, iconic photos will be taken during the game, as always are. And many of those images will end up being the enduring on-field images from Super Bowl 46.

But I think the photo above will end up being the enduring off-field image from a Super Bowl that is making everyone who lives in Indianapolis, and everyone who once lived there but still considers themselves a Hoosier, very proud.